"It's Our LA, Keep It Clean!" Program

In my apartment, we have a small mountain of plastic bags stored in the cabinet underneath the sink. It seems to perpetually stay the same size and never shrink, no matter how much we try to make good use of them in our trashcans or for storage purposes. We have a stash of reusable shopping bags that we use for grocery shopping but on the days when I decide to stop by Ralph's on my way back from class and I am without a reusable bag, I always cringe internally at the thought of adding yet another plastic bag to our collection.

In the face of LA being ranked one of the top cities with the worst ozone pollution and just pollution in general, I was glad to see various green organizations and programs being implemented and one of them is the "It's Our LA, Keep It Clean!" Plastic Bag Recycling Program. The program encourages residents to return plastic bags to stores for recycling and coincides with the passage of the Plastic Bag Recycling Act of 2006 (AB 2449), a new statewide law that requires certain retail and grocery stores to set up an at-store recycling program for customers to return plastic bags to accessible, visible bins for collection.

Stores meeting AB 2449 are required to print or display, on their plastic bags, the words PLEASE RETURN TO A PARTICIPATING STORE FOR RECYCLING. They must also provide a collection bin that is clearly marked for the purpose of collecting and recycling plastic bags. In addition, the store will maintain records describing the collection, transport, and recycling of the bags for a minimum of three years to demonstrate compliance and assess program success.

In this first year of the program, the pilot program commitment will be for one year in which it will focus on areas in LA designated as "high trash areas." After a year, an assessment will be carried out. The state law expires in 2013.

For more information, you can go to http://www.plastics.lacity.org/index.htm to find out more about the program. There is also a new "Take Action!" section on the website, encouraging the public and schools to look at this effort as simple and effective, from knowing what goes into their recycling bin to volunteering for a cleanup, to helping local stores start a recycling program.